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27 October 2011

Getting the next 6 Billion Online

"Some time this month, for the first time, there will be 7 billion people alive on earth... According to most estimates just over 2 billion currently use the internet regularly.

The growth in the web’s use, even in purely numerical terms is almost incomprehensibly dramatic. From .4% of the world’s population in 1995, to 5.9% in 2000, 13.9% in 2005, to today’s 30.4%.

Universality is a founding principle of the web. It is the manifesto the web has been built on. The truth is, the challenge of universality is daunting. It is hard work. But to me at least, paying this forward is the quid pro quo of the enormous privilege I’ve been granted to work on the web.

...how do we get the next billion online, and ultimately, the next 6 billion people online?"